Industrialization as the Catalyst for the Digital World
The modern digital world, while bearing strong influences from Victorian and Modernist thought, ultimately originates from neither, but is rather a product of advancing technology. Although the diagrammatic ideas of information organization that surfaced in the Victorian age have served, along with Modernist imagery, to lend a definite structure to the digital world, these ideas were not the catalysts for new developments in technology. It was rather the rapid industrialization in Europe and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in the world, that led to the sciences gaining value as potential tools for production, which sciences in turn were shaped by the Victorian and Modernist ideas that were prevalent during the Industrial Revolution. At the risk of taking a Marxist viewpoint, the digital world of today is more a product of the desire for improved productivity that existed during the Victorian age than a product of any supposedly revolutionary ideas that were brought forth during that time period.
In order to determine the most proximate cause of the digital world that cannot be definitively traced back to a prior cause, to determine what most directly produced the digital world, it is necessary to determine what factor was most essential to its engenderment. One entity cannot be said to be the product of another in a historical framework if it is conceivable that the product could have been brought forth successfully without the ostensible source. In attempting to find that which produced the modern digital world, the search must have its focus in simple cause and effect. In the absence of a clear causality between the digital world and its supposed source, it is possib...
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... contributed heavily to the form and structure of the modern digital world, they themselves did not produce the digital world as a whole. Utilizing the same tests, it has been shown that the rapid advancement of technology is the phenomenon that produced the digital world. This rapid advancement of technology resulted initially from the Industrial Revolution, with later support from the military and economic conflicts of World War II and the Cold War. Ultimately, although Victorian and Modernist thought contributed largely to the way in which the digital world is presented, the digital world is the product of rapid scientific advancement resulting from an economic stimulus to improve productivity as allowed and encouraged by industrialization as it existed in the Industrial Revolution, and by the threat of annihilation as it existed in World War II and the Cold War.
Goldberg, David Theo. “If Technology Is Making Us Stupid, It’s Not Technology’s Fault.” Blog. Digital Humanities. August 16, 2010. Gooch and Suyler. in Argument. Avenue of the Americas, New York.2011. 301-03. Print.
The introduction of the printing press changed society permanently. Along with this invention came the emergence of mass production of texts. Suddenly, information could be efficiently replicated, thus facilitating the dissemination process. Widespread alphabetic literacy, as Havelock states, could finally become a reality. Print media, however, are fundamentally restricted by their physical nature. Enter the Internet, arguably modern society’s greatest technological advancement, with its ability to digitally recontextualize the written word. Again, forever changing the nature of communication. This paper will focus on the web’s functional, social, and cultural remediations of print media. It can be argued that the Internet is a modernized version of the printing press. The web created an explosion in production, self-published content, and new forms of machine art. Through contrasting physical and digital print media, it will be shown that the Internet enhances aspects of the printing press in defining itself.
In today’s fast paced modern society, there are many individual’s who wish we could turn back time to the where we weren’t surrounded by computers, cell phones and all manners of surveillance and recording. Many say that these things have added a hassle to our lives by being striped away from our own personal privacy and educational learning experiences. However, the evolvement of new technology during the industrial revolution was more then just the loss of privacy and quality education, but the loss of jobs that many blue collared workers relied on. In the English industrial revolution of the 19th century, industries were being revolutionized by new mechanization and organizational techniques which took the place of hand produced work. This
Through suffering times several Chinese artists, including calligraphers, painters, and poets have used a fundamental text, Tao Te Ching for both philosophical and religious Taoism as a source of inspiration. The inspirational scriptures within the text influenced not only Taoism but Legalism, Confucianism, and Buddhism and have even become the most translated works in world literature. While reading the Tao Te Ching looking for inspiration before I graduate I particularly resonated with Chapter 29:
Although the world as a whole has become greater and greater as each decade passes, the world has experienced a decline that overpowers the good that has happened in this century. Technology wise, the world has used this to our advantage, and become a greater and smarter world each day. However, the technology is a main reason for the world’s downfall.
As one of the greatest founding novels of Taoism, Book of Chuang Tzu serves to strengthen Lao Tzu 's arguments in Tao Te Ching and lays the foundation for Taoism 's place in Chinese philosophy. Because Confucianism and Taoism are two competing philosophy schools that share more outstanding differences than similarities, the followers of both schools often refute and evaluate the ideals of the opposite school. However, the constant appearance of Confucius as the main character in more than twenty chapters in Book of Chuang Tzu not only surprises the readers, but also calls for deep analysis of the roles played Confucius in order to understand the true meaning of this ancient literature. While Chuang Tzu criticizes many of the Confucian ideas
Although there is a enormous amount of literature involved with Daoism, the Daoist canon itself contains 1,120 volumes (Coogan 241), there are two texts that are the heart and soul of Daoism; the Tao Teh Ching and the Zhuangzi. The Tao Teh Ching was legendarily written by Lao Tzu himself and is the basis for much of what Daoists believe. With just over five thousand Chinese characters, the Tao Teh Ching addresses confusing questions with confusing answers, providing advice that is at once practical and impractical. Although the debate rages over whether it is a collection of works from separate authors or a true compilation of the potentially real Lao Tzu, the Tao Teh Ching's philosophies on life and the Dao are remarkable. They are, but they aren't. It is, but it isn't. Full of sagacity and wisdom, the Tao Teh Ching first addresses the issue of the Dao and its place as a core belief among Daoists.
Little, Stephen, & Shawn Eichman. Taoism and The Arts of China. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2000. Print.
Computers are a magnificent feat of technology. They have grown from simple calculators to machines with many functions and abilities. Computers have become so common that almost every home has at least one computer, and schools find them a good source for information and education for their students (Hafner, Katie, unknown). Computers have created new careers and eliminated others and have left a huge impact on our society. The invention of the computer has greatly affected the arts, the business world, and society and history in many different areas, but to understand how great these changes are, it is necessary to take a look at the origins of the computer.
Virtual and digital technologies are rampant in American culture and thoroughly utilized in entertainment mediums like television, movies, magazines, and video games. Our capitalist economy creates a fertile environment for these mediums to prosper by feeding off the public's hunger for entertainment. Because these industries are in such high demand and accrue billion dollar revenues, new technologies are often conceived in and funded by these trades: "For, in essence, all socially relevant new image media, from classical antiquity to the revolution of digital images, have advanced to serve the interests of maintaining power and control or maximizing profits" (Grau 339). That being the case, new technologies "hardly ever…advanced solely for artistic purposes" (Grau 339). Because "power" and "profits" are the central means of motivation in our culture; art, in the classical sense, is often an afterthought. In an age where entertainment and art intertwine, however, distinctions between the two based upon their creation are impossible. With advances in technology and, in turn, art, our ideas and traditions of comparison should also develop to justly analyze new media: "Although art history and the history of the media have always stood in an interdependent relationship and art has commented on, taken up, or even promoted each new media development, the view of art history as media history…is still underdeveloped" (Grau 4). In order to embrace virtual art as a valid outlet of artistic expression, its relationship to media and unique position in the history of art must first be acknowledged.
Digital revolution is exponentially accelerating the productivity of various outcomes in the society and also transforming the employment and economy of the world. In recent times, innovation in technology is inadvertently becoming the cause for chronic unemployment which in turn is drastically affecting the median household income. This book discusses such trends and outcomes in general and offers solutions to the problems faced by present and future generation of workers. Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have discussed effects of machines on wealth distribution, economy and employment in a crisp, strong and insightful way.
The supposed author of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, is said to be the father of Taoism. It is estimated that Lao Tzu, spelled many other ways including Lao-tsu, Lao Tse, and Lao Tzi, was born under the name of Li Erh in Honan, China, around 604 B.C.E. Myth says that Lao Tzu was born fully developed with a long, white beard and hair the color of snow. He was somewhat of a recluse and withdrew from society to avoid governmental law and rule. He retreated to the Western frontier after the fall of the Zhou dynasty to continue his personal study of metaphysics and philosophy (Taoism 2). The collaborations of his studies and observations are said to be the basis of the Tao Te Ching, although some scholars argue that Lao Tzu’s existence cannot be proved and that the scholar Chuang-tzu played at least a partial role in the authorship. However the Tao Te Ching came to be, it is prized for being the foundation of Taoist belief and should hold merit as a universal guide, not as an author’s accomplishment (De Bary, Chan, and Watson 49).
Media and technology have an ever increasing role in how we as humans communicate with one another as well as help impact our culture. The printed word, once able to be mass produced helped usher in an era where where people could seek the education and reading skills they desired, brought print and knowledge to the masses. Now with the more common use of digital communication and media outlets, our options for information and communication are almost entirely unimpeded. Technology allows us to live through multiple Renaissance type periods filled with ever growing pools of information from which to share, and culture changing happenings coming from every corner of our connected world.
Video game play can have both positive and negative effects on children and adolescents, and adults should seek to minimize the negative effects while maximizing the positive effects by staying informed about games and establishing rules about the amount and type of video game play.
If nineteenth century was an era of the Industrial revolution in Europe, I would say that computer and Information Technology have domineered since the twentieth century. The world today is a void without computers, be it healthcare, commerce or any other field, the industry won’t thrive without Information Technology and Computer Science. This ever-growing field of technology has aroused interest in me since my childhood.